Navigation Links
Brain's white matter -- More 'talkative' than once thought

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered to their surprise that nerves in the mammalian brain’s white matter do more than just ferry information between different brain regions, but in fact process information the way gray matter cells do.

The discovery in mouse cells, outlined in the cover story of the March issue of Nature Neuroscience, shows that brain cells “talk?with each other in more ways than previously thought.

“We were surprised to see these nerve axons talking to other cells in the white matter,?says Dwight Bergles, Ph.D., an associate professor of neuroscience at Hopkins.

The discovery focuses on oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), whose main role when they mature into oligodendrocytes is to wrap themselves around and insulate nerves with a whitish coat of protective myelin. The immature cells simply hang around and divide very slowly, waiting to be spurred into action.

To learn more about OPCs that reside in the brain’s white matter, the Johns Hopkins researchers measured activity from individual precursor cells in the corpus callosum, a region of white matter that connects the two brain hemispheres. To their surprise, OPCs were found to have electrical signals produced by the neurotransmitter glutamate, similar to the signals used as the principle means of cell-to-cell communication and information processing in the gray matter. The phenomenon was unlikely, they said, because in the mouse brain, OPCs in the myelin-rich white matter are far from synapses, the points of contact between nerves where glutamate is released.

Theorizing that OPCs might have experienced glutamate in some less obvious way in this area of the brain, Bergles and his team studied nearby nerve cells to figure out where the glutamate might be coming from.

By forcing single nerve cells to become excited one at a time, they discovered that as electrical impulses are carried along the nerves, glutamate is released and caus
'"/>

Source:Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. NYU Study Reveals How Brains Immune System Fights Viral Encephalitis
2. Shifty-eyed Monkeys Offer Window Into Brains Social Reflexes
3. What Makes The Brain Tick, Tick, Tick: Researchers Gaining New Insights Into Brains Internal Clock
4. Brains own cannabis compound protects against inflammation
5. Brains gambling circuitry identified
6. Brains reward circuit activity ebbs and flows with a womans hormonal cycle
7. Why do aneurysms form? New studies suggest leading role for white blood cells
8. Bad enzymes may wear white hats after stroke
9. Gene patterns in white blood cells quickly diagnose disease
10. Research could lead to better drugs and whiter whites
11. For Pacific white shrimp, gender matters when competing for food
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Brain white matter More talkative than once thought

(Date:5/18/2013)... 2013) The AGA Research Foundation is honored to ... Award in Digestive Cancer, which will support Andrew D. ... the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, as he furthers his ... regeneration and cancer progression. , "The AGA Research Foundation ... two distinguished clinicians and AGA Legacy Society members," said ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... By day, insects provide the white noise of the South, ... typical year, the Southern air hangs heavy from the humidity ... to more than 140 species of frogs, toads and salamanders, ... If the ponds and swamps are the auditorium for their ... Research and Monitoring Initiative, or ARMI, have front-row seats. ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... project (Intelligent Cargo in Efficient and Sustainable Global Logistics ... an improvement in the efficiency of intermodal loading systems ... making. It comprises 29 European organisations with experience in ... has a budget totalling 17,000,000 and a duration of ... to specify and develop the semantic components and ontologies ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):AGA Research Foundation grant furthers digestive cancer research 2Front-row seats to climate change 2Front-row seats to climate change 3Front-row seats to climate change 4New logistics services that will cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions 2
... ORLANDO, Fla., June 30, 2011 Biomechanical testing of ... HULC™ exoskeleton is now underway at the U.S. Army ... Mass.  The testing is expected to help shape future ... (Photo:   http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110630/FL28804 ) ...
... progenitor cells may not come with a clean genetic slate ... FASEB Journal ( http://www.fasebj.org ) shows that adult stem ... change once a cell differentiates. This is important because epigenetic ... cell,s DNA, but rather, how that DNA functions. Epigenetic changes ...
... California and other premium winegrowing regions of the United ... new study led by Stanford University climate scientists. ... Research Letters , the scientists ,report that by 2040, ... grapes in high-value areas of northern California could shrink ...
Cached Biology News:Lockheed Martin's HULC™ Robotic Exoskeleton Enters Biomechanical Testing at U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center 2Adult stem cells carry their own baggage: Epigenetics guides stem cell fate 2Global warming could alter the US premium wine industry in 30 years, says Stanford study 2Global warming could alter the US premium wine industry in 30 years, says Stanford study 3Global warming could alter the US premium wine industry in 30 years, says Stanford study 4
(Date:5/17/2013)... BEIJING , May 17, 2013  Yongye International, ... "Company"), a leading developer, manufacturer, and distributor of crop ... China , today announced that, on May 16, ... board of directors (the "Board of Directors") was provided ... ( Hong Kong ) Limited ("Abax") to ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... May 17, 2013 RURO Inc. ... version 4.1, a versatile refinement to the smart ... solution, improves its advanced methodical management for transgenic ... ezColony 4.1. The network-based platform provides user access ... research. While continuing to emphasize streamlined tasks, such ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 ... Barbara A. Myers, CAE, to the newly created ... her new role, Myers will be responsible for ... and production strategies, advancing the Society’s Member-led and ... and continuing to refine organizational, membership and product ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... 16, 2013 Kitware , ... today announces new Phase II SBIR funding from ... development of an open-source, high performance computing (HPC) ... framework enables researchers to select only the toolkits ... simulation, computation, or analysis tasks. , Manufacturers ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Yongye International Provides Update on Status of Proposed Go Private Offer 2Yongye International Provides Update on Status of Proposed Go Private Offer 3Yongye International Provides Update on Status of Proposed Go Private Offer 4RURO Introduces ezColony 4.1 – The Versatile Transgenic Animal Colony Management Software 2ISPE Names Barbara A. Myers, CAE, as Vice President of Professional Development 2Kitware Develops a Customizable Simulation Framework to Provide HPC for Small to Mid-Sized Manufacturers 2
... Website Tackles Water Safety, Environmental Concerns With Test Kits, Water ... Filters and ... That is the,question. At least it is in the minds of ... aren,t sure if their tap water is,safe. Discover Testing has assembled ...
... REHOVOT, Israel and NORTH BRUNSWICK, New Jersey, ... ), a leader in,the development of microRNA-based ... Scientist Prof. Zvi Bentwich will present AACR,s,upcoming ... Bentwich,s presentation will focus on Rosetta Genomics,unique ...
... Sept. 12 Elekta is pleased to,announce the ... Volumetric Intensity Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)*. The complete,offering ... the Elekta booth at,this year,s European Society of ... 2007. Performing VMAT with Elekta,enables helical- like conformality ...
Cached Biology Technology:Discover Testing Settles the Drinking Water Debate: Tap vs. Bottled 2Rosetta Genomics to Present at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) "Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development" Conference 2Elekta Displays Complete Volumetric Intensity Modulated Arc Therapy Solutions at ESTRO 2Elekta Displays Complete Volumetric Intensity Modulated Arc Therapy Solutions at ESTRO 3
... NGGC3' 3'CGGN NNNNCCG5' Inactivation Conditions: Heat inactivation ... treatment followed by ethanol precipitation. Storage Conditions: ... EDTA, 1.0mM DTT, 0.01% BSA, 50% glycerol. ... Store at -20C. Unit Definition: One unit ...
...
Anti-Tissue Trans-glutaminase (IgA) EIA Sample Size: 10 l...
... Lysozyme Assay Kit (E-22013) provides,researchers with ... of lysozyme,activity in solution. This fluorescence-based ... 20 U/mL (Figure 1). The assay,measures ... which are labeled to such a ...
Biology Products: